Chapter 4: Three Years Ago (Winter's Incident)

(Catherine's POV)

I was so engrossed with checking the research files my assistant handed to me. It's been years since I started researching about my sister's illness. But because of its rareness, I didn't manage to make any breakthroughs.

My phone suddenly rang. I took a look and saw that it was my mother who was calling me, so I pressed the answer button. "Hello, mom".

The crying sound of my mother on the phone made me startled. I immediately dropped my files on the table and placed my focus on the phone. This made me worry because it’s unusual for my mother to act like this unless something happened to Winter.

I had a bad premonition about this so I called her again to get her attention. "What happened, mom? Why are you crying?"

"Catherine! Winter... she..."

"Mom, what happened to Winter? Did something happen to her?"

"She...She had an attack just now. We're already in an ambulance, your sister needs you, Catherine."

As soon as I heard that Winter had an attack, my heart stopped for a moment. My mind went blank and I almost dropped my phone. My mom called my name again when I didn't speak a word. This brought me back to my senses.

I hurriedly stood up and went outside my office. “Mom, don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine, okay? I will not let her die, I promise you that. I will wait for you two here in the hospital.” When the call ended, I hurriedly rushed towards the elevator.

My office is located on the third floor of the hospital and it will take me a while to reach the 10th floor if I use the stairs. When the elevator opened, I went inside and pressed the floor button. 'Inhale... Exhale... Keep your head straight Catherine! You can't break down!'

I keep calming myself down while I’m inside. However, my trembling hands show how nervous I am feeling right now. I keep looking at the screen that shows the floor number, impatiently waiting for me to reach the right floor.

After a few minutes, the door opened. I fastened my pace and went directly to my mentor’s office. *Knock.Knock.Knock*

No one answered after the repeated knocks. I tried looking for his secretary but she was also nowhere to be found. Having no choice, I fished out my phone in my robe’s pocket and called him. Dr. Thomas.

Dr. Parker Thomas is my mentor and also a great friend of mine. He is three years older than I am and we met when I was still having my internship here at People's Hospital. Dr. Thomas is a fine young man with exquisite talent in medicine. He is also tall and handsome.

A lot of nurses, doctors, and even patients in the hospital like him as a man, except for me. What I feel for him is just pure admiration for his skills. I think that's also the reason why he took me as his student because I only have respect for him as a doctor without any malicious feelings.

For several years, he taught me a lot of things. He became my closest companion and a friend as well. Everything I know came from this man. He is very talented and also famous, but he doesn't brag about it. He was humble and kind to everyone. That's what made me admire him more as a doctor. He has the talent and heart of a doctor.

When I told him one time about my sister's condition, he willingly helped me with my research. No matter how hard it is to find the cure, I will not give up. As of this moment, our research is already 85% complete. However, I haven’t used it for my sister since I don’t want her to be my test subject.

We are still looking for someone who has the same condition as my sister. But, her illness is very rare, so it’s hard for us to look for someone to test the medicine. So, up until now, we have been stuck with our research.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a voice over the phone. “Hello, Catherine”.

“Dr. Parker. Thank goodness you answered the call. I’m right in front of your office but I think you’re not here yet? Are you at home?”

“Ah, I didn’t come to the office today. Neither am I at home. I’m currently here in Lincoln City to attend the conference. Why? Did you encounter any problems?”

“Conference…?”

“There’s a Doctor’s Conference that the Chairman wanted me to attend on his behalf. He said it’s very important for the hospital to be invited. That’s why he wanted me to attend.”

My grip tightened on the phone I was holding. Silence filled our conversation instantly. I tried to open my mouth to speak a word. However, low sobs came out.

“Catherine? Is there a problem? What happened?... Wait, are you crying?” I can hear the concern in his voice. This made me tear up even more. “Dr. Thomas…My sister…She…” My voice started to crack and it was getting harder for me to suppress my emotions.

“What happened to your sister? Did she have an attack again?”

“Yes, my mother called…she… she called me just now. They are on their way here.”

On the phone, I can hear the sound of someone running. "I will immediately book a flight. Do what you need to do to stabilize her condition, okay? I'll do my best to arrive there as soon as possible"

My mouth gasped because of shock. However, I can’t help but worry. This conference is very important. “But… what about the conference?”

“Nothing is more important than life itself. I can still do it again next year, it can wait.”

Relief is slowly showing on my face. ”Thank you so much, Dr. Thomas. Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. I’m just doing what is right”. After the call ended, I wiped the tears on my face and rushed to the ground floor to wait for the ambulance to arrive.

After a few minutes, the ambulance came. I saw my mother walking out of the car together with my sister lying on the stretcher. I immediately ordered them to rush her to the ER. “Rushed her to the ER! Quick!"

We immediately wheeled her to the emergency room. I took my stethoscope and checked her condition further. Despite my calm appearance, my heart is in chaos. Looking at the pale face and the slight groan on my sister’s face, I know she’s in pain even if she’s unconscious.

This is what bothered me for the longest time. Her illness is very rare. There’s something in her heart that makes her weak all the time. Also, whenever there’s a bit of change in her emotions, the pain will instantly shoot out all throughout her body. It can’t be immediately stopped because it targets her veins. She will feel an unexplainable pain in her body until she falls unconscious.

For years, I’ve been researching about the cure. We even set up a specialized room for her in our house where everything is controlled. The temperature and the amount of oxygen entering the room are specially designed for her.

We managed to stabilize her condition because of this. However, it’s still not enough. There are still times when she gets an attack every now and then, just like today.

My heart keeps on pounding so fast as I check her condition. I was already having a bad feeling when I heard about this on the phone. However, after checking her condition, my tension worsened.

Her condition got worse. I ordered them to take her to the lab for a check-up. Looking at my mom's pale face, I couldn't say anything. I'm afraid it will make my mother's condition worse. Looking at how fast the pain traveled through her body, I’m afraid in a couple of days, if not treated, it will affect her brain, which is dangerous.

I can't show my fear and worry because there's my mother who is already panicking and crying. I need to focus because I know panicking will not treat my sister's condition.

After a couple of hours, the test results arrived. Panic and fear are not a good combination. I was already feeling bad when I heard about her accident. However, the result came out, my feelings turned for the worse. Her condition got worse and at a faster rate.